Al Jazeera Acquires Current TV

Al Jazeera Acquires Current TV

Very interesting:

Al Jazeera has struck a deal to purchase Current TV and launch a new U.S.-based news channel.

"For many years, we understood that we could make a positive contribution to the news and information available in and about the United States and what we are announcing today will help us achieve that goal," said Al Jazeera director general Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani. "By acquiring Current TV, Al Jazeera will significantly expand our existing distribution footprint in the U.S., as well as increase our newsgathering and reporting efforts in America."

"We are proud and pleased that Al Jazeera, the award-winning international news organization, has bought Current TV," said Al Gore, co-founder and chairman, and Joel Hyatt, co-founder and CEO.

Current TV had a distribution footprint of 58 million households, but following news of the acquisition, Time Warner Cable said it would drop the network. TWC has positioned Current on digital basic, making it available to some 9 million homes.

"Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service," a TWC spokeswoman said. "We are removing the service as quickly as possible."

When a cable network is sold or changes its programming direction, distributors can revisit their deals. Other providers that carry the low-rated Current could follow suit. SNL Kagan estimates Current TV’s monthly subscriber fee at 12 cents.

The sale, which was first reported Wednesday in the New York Times, will see Al Jazeera rebrand the network as a domestic and international news channel for American audiences in 2013, replacing Current's schedule of political shows after a transition period. The new network will be based in New York, with Al Jazeera looking to open new bureaus to supplement its existing news bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. The company expects to its current U.S. based staff to 300 employees.

An acquisition of the low-rated Current TV was expected, with the network acknowledging it was considering a sale in October, saying then, "Current has been approached many times by media companies interested in acquiring our company. This year alone, we have had three inquiries. As a consequence, we thought it might be useful to engage expertise to help us evaluate our strategic options."

Given TWC's quick decision ,the sale could make Al Jazeera's new network available to around 50 million U.S. subscribers. Its Al Jazeera English channel is currently only available on cable and satellite in select cities, including New York and Washington, D.C., despite Al Jazeera lobbying for greater carriage after the Arab Spring in 2011.

Founded in 2005, Current TV was rebranded as a political news channel in 2011 with the hire of Keith Olbermann, but his show failed to generate big ratings and he was fired from the network last spring. Subsequent shows hosted by Jennifer Granholm, Cenk Uygur and others have also failed to break out, with Current drawing about 42,000 viewers on an average night in 2012, according to Nielsen.

Re: Al Jazeera Acquires Current TV

[ Edited ]

I hope every cable television provider who carries Current TV will continue with Al Jazeera America. No disrespect intended here, but I am one who will not accept anyone else making some attempt to tell me what I can or cannot watch on television through their demands (and whatever motivates such demands). So, for anyone who doesn't want other people to be able to see Al Jazeera America: I suggest you find yourself a personally satisfying solution which doesn't disrupt other paying subscribers who do want the access to view Al Jazeera America.

Re: Current Tv

dopamine5ht wrote:Couldn't put it better myself. I wish someday uverse could get some more bbc content too. Like BBC worldnews. It is the 21st century and i find the selection amazingly dull sometimes. I think for decent price we should be able to watch bbc and canada. but no its all rights encumbered. I hope bbc launches an international iplayer sometime soon too. oh boy

Time-Warner Cable just picked up BBC World News last week. I'm considering dropping U-verse for that.

Re: Al Jazeera Acquires Current TV

LoveHD wrote:

I hope every cable television provider who carries Current TV will continue with Al Jazeera America. No disrespect intended here, but I am one who will not accept anyone else making some attempt to tell me what I can or cannot watch on television through their demands (and whatever motivates such demands). So, for anyone who doesn't want other people to be able to see Al Jazeera America: I suggest you find yourself a personally satisfying solution which doesn't disrupt other paying subscribers who do want the access to view Al Jazeera America.

Go ahead and watch that terrorist supported network. I hope more provider dump it like a hot potatoe.

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Re: Current Tv

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Current Tv

[ Edited ]

Does anyone have proof that Al Jazzera supports terrorism or is everyone who says that just blowing smoke out thier backside because a friend fo a friend said they support terrorism?

I'm all for the hate of a person or company that supports that if true. But if this is justa weak excuse by people to hate on a Muslim owned company then they really need to take a good look at themselves.

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*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Current Tv

I don't think they support terrorism. They're not Hamas or the Taliban.

However, like any news organization, are not immune to bias and slant in their reporting. I highly doubt that their brand of news would survive in the US because only a very few people would watch them.

Re: Al jazeera? Really?

antman_2 wrote:

Not that I watched current t.v. but how the heck can the f.c.c. allow foreign ownership of a network? Especiallly al jazeera!!!!

Foreign-owned networks are nothing new. Various BBC channels have been available for years. In addition, many of the foreign-language offerings are owned by the native country. I think the better question is why would the FCC stop a foreign-owned network?

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Re: Al jazeera? Really?

MicCheck wrote:

antman_2 wrote:

Not that I watched current t.v. but how the heck can the f.c.c. allow foreign ownership of a network? Especiallly al jazeera!!!!

Foreign-owned networks are nothing new. Various BBC channels have been available for years. In addition, many of the foreign-language offerings are owned by the native country. I think the better question is why would the FCC stop a foreign-owned network?

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Al jazeera? Really?

skeeterintexas wrote:

MicCheck wrote:

antman_2 wrote:

Not that I watched current t.v. but how the heck can the f.c.c. allow foreign ownership of a network? Especiallly al jazeera!!!!

Foreign-owned networks are nothing new. Various BBC channels have been available for years. In addition, many of the foreign-language offerings are owned by the native country. I think the better question is why would the FCC stop a foreign-owned network?

Isn't Fox News owned by Australian born Rupert Murdoch?

According to Wikipedia, Murdoch became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1985.

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Re: Al Jazeera Acquires Current TV

texasguy37 wrote:

Al Jazeera owns beIN Sport which many soccer fans have been begging U-verse to include in it's lineup.

Let me get this straight. Al Jazeera is a terrorist news organization which wants to destroy the United States. beIN Sport channel is owned by Al Jazeera. beIIN Sport channel, which many soccer fans on U-Verse have been begging for, is dedicated to soccer.

Therefore, soccer is a sport that is dedicated to destroying the United States. Those U-Verse subscribers who are begging for beIN Sport channel support terrorism.

To sum it all up, anyone on this forum who asks for beIN Sport channel needs to be transported to Guantanamo Bay so that they can be with their fellow soccer fans.

Owning a computer and not having the internet is like buying a refrigerator and not stocking it with food.

Owning a computer and not having the internet is like buying a refrigerator and not stocking it with food.

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Re: Current Tv

SomeJoe7777 wrote:I don't think they support terrorism. They're not Hamas or the Taliban.

However, like any news organization, are not immune to bias and slant in their reporting. I highly doubt that their brand of news would survive in the US because only a very few people would watch them.

So it will be as successful as Current is now...

-------

Resident Xbox ACE. Ask me almost anything about Xbox on U-Verse.

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*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.